Imagine an energy source that was infinite, clean, and completely scalable. It would solve many of the world's problems -- and sounds too good to be true. This is the promise of "zero-point energy" - the idea that the lowest possible energy of a system, its "ground state," can in fact be harnessed by a machine -- and, unfortunately, still very much in the realm of science fiction.

For decades, we've depended on an outdated, centralized power system that wastes power and occasionally fails to meet everyone's needs. The idea of a localized power grid, or microgrid, might just be the change we need.